How to Watch the 2018 Winter Olympics Without Paying For Cable TV

Luke Bouma

9 months ago

NBC yesterday finally announced their plans to cover the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

Many of the biggest events will be 100% free on NBC with an antenna, but an additional 365.5 hours of Olympic coverage will be aired on NBCUniversal cable networks, which include NBCSN, CNBC, and the USA Network.

The good news is you do not need cable TV and the two-year contract to watch the Olympics.

Here is how you can watch the Olympics as a cord cutter.

#1 Antenna

NBC will be the place to go for many of the biggest events including the opening and closing ceremonies. Hulu, Sling TV, YouTube TV, PlayStation Vue, and DIRECTV NOW all offer NBC in some markets; however, the best way to watch is 100% with an antenna.

To find out if you can get NBC free over the air, check out AntennaRecommendations.com. There you can see if you need an indoor or outdoor antenna to get NBC.

#2 NBCSN, CNBC, and USA Network

The good news is every major streaming service includes NBCSN, CNBC, and USA Network. You should check out Hulu, DIRECTV NOW, Sling TV, PlayStation Vue, and other services.

Now the question is what are the least expensive options. So let’s take a look at the cheapest way to watch the 2018 Winter Olympics n Pyeongchang.

Hulu

Hulu subscribers will have full access to NBC’s coverage of the Winter Olympics both live and on demand. Not only will you get access to the events but for some smaller sports the on-demand version will appear before it airs on a cable network. To top it all off Hulu will also allow you to customize your 2018 Winter Olympics. You will now be able to pick just the events you want to watch and skip the rest.

The other options include YouTube TV in select markets for $35 a month and PlayStation Vue for $39.99 a month. Both are great options but they cost a little bit more than the competition.

DIRECTV NOW

If you are an AT&T Unlimited Subscriber, you can get DIRECTV NOW for just $20 a month. AT&T gives AT&T Unlimited Subscribers $15 off DIRECTV NOW allowing you to get their $35 a month plan for just $20 a month.